The current church consists of a single large nave flanked by a series of side chapels set within deep archivolts. The nave terminates in a quadrangular space, while the ceiling is formed by a slab whose intrados, like the entire interior of the church, is decorated with ornamentation created in 1963. The church’s interior is adorned with stucco and plasterwork typical of the second half of the 19th century: the pilasters are lightened by the presence of lesenes resting on bases and topped by Corinthian capitals decorated with garlands of acanthus flowers. The high altar is made of polychrome marble and dates to between the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On either side of the high altar are two rooms used as parish offices and a sacristy.
The exterior of the church lacks elaborate decorative elements. The main façade is articulated by four giant lesenes supporting a triangular pediment. The stone entrance portal is adorned with simple moldings and bears the inscription “A. D. 1893,” likely referring to the completion of the structure following the reconstruction of the church destroyed by the 1857 earthquake. The central nave is covered with a double-pitched roof clad in terracotta tiles. The side chapels have lower single-pitched roofs also covered in terracotta tiles.
The imposing bell tower is attached to the left side of the entrance façade and is divided into four levels. It retains no significant decorative elements except for simple string courses and is entirely constructed of exposed Raparo tuff.
In 1908, a small single-nave mountain chapel was built, with the date inscribed on its entrance portal.
**Description:** A wooden statue, carved, painted, and gilded, from the 15th century by an unknown Lucanian artist. The Madonna is seated on a small throne, holding the Child, who is placed at the center of the composition on her lap. The Child holds a globe in his left hand and blesses with his right. Both figures are crowned and heavily gilded, flattening the perception of the composition. The Virgin’s right arm is raised and extended forward, holding an object—currently a bouquet of flowers. According to local tradition, before various restorations, the statue was believed to be of the Black Madonna type.
An inscription on the throne reads: *”HOC SIMULACRUM ERAT VASTATUM ET FUSCUM PROPTER ANTIQUITATEM. AT ANNO D.NI 1679 DE EIUS BONIS FUIT APTUM ET COLORATUM, ASSISTENTE ARCHIPRESB. CARTOLANO PER LABELLA A MISSANELLO. AD HONOREM MAGIS AUGENDAM DEVOTIONEM HOC SIMULACRUM B. VIRGINIS, EX MOTU DOMINICI CARTOLANO CUN CONCORSO.”* According to the inscription, the statue was first restored in 1679. Further restorations are documented in 1712 (when it was gilded), 1876, 1918, and finally in 1956, when artisans from Ortisei replaced the heads of the Madonna and Child. These last two artifacts are still preserved in the church and confirm a 15th-century origin and a late Gothic iconography, discernible from the central placement of the Child and the drapery characterized by long folds.
**In use between:** 1400 and 1499
**Image:** Statue
**Original location of the sanctuary:** Unknown
**Notes on the collection:** In the past, various objects were offered to the Virgin, such as braids of hair and votive garments. Today, only the custom of donating goldsmithing items remains.
**Types of ex-votos:** Goldsmithing items, miscellaneous objects, other
**Current preservation status:** Unknown
The original urban church of S. Maria della Rupe likely dates back to the medieval period. In 1790, local historian Francesco Saverio Roselli identified traces of 9th–10th-century construction in its walls.
During the iconoclastic persecutions, the statue—already venerated by the people—was supposedly hidden in the hollow of a cliff to protect it from destruction. About a century later, a mute shepherd named Mario Conte, while grazing his goats, noticed the crevice, entered it, and discovered the statue. Upon regaining his speech, he immediately reported the event to the villagers.
An alternate version of the story recounts that the shepherd, seeing grass at the bottom of the crevice, descended with his goats. Due to the intense cold, he tried to light a fire. Gathering brushwood, he found that the fire kept extinguishing while the ground beneath it burned. Astonished, he struck the ground with his staff and realized he was hitting a wooden chest. When he managed to lift the lid, he discovered the ancient statue inside. He then ran to the village to tell the story, and everyone listened in amazement, as they had known him to be mute. The clergy and townspeople went to the cliff and brought the statue back to the old village church, where devotion to the ancient Virgin statue was renewed with great fervor.
After the 1857 earthquake, the village church collapsed, leaving only the niche containing the Virgin’s statue standing.
According to the 1729 inventory of the mother church of S. Lorenzo, the church was under the clergy of the aforementioned church.
85030 San Martino D’Agri PZ, Italy
